Tech Fans Bring The Noise For Um Visit

Hokies' Crowd In Prime Form For Biggest Victory

BLACKSBURG — They couldn't shut them up. That's what the Hurricanes will remember about the beating they got in Blacksburg.

All that ear-splitting, migraine-inducing noise.

When Miami coach Larry Coker headed onto the field to shake Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer's hand with 10 seconds still on the clock at the end of the Hokies' stunning 31-7 upset Saturday night, the joyous screams erupting here sent a disorienting jolt through all of college football.

Oklahoma may remain No. 1 atop the Bowl Championship Series poll this morning, but the national championship picture was fractured by the shock waves rolling out of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This was the biggest win in the history of Virginia Tech football, and these Hokie fans all but willed it.

This whipping was so thorough, Virginia Tech officials had the goalposts dismantled before the Hokies' faithful started spilling onto the field. And they spilled in an endless river of Chicago Maroone and Burnt Orange. They turned the place into a giant mosh pit. They punched fists in the sky, they leapt, they danced, they howled like they've never howled here before.

This upset of No. 2 Miami (7-1) thrusts the No. 10 Hokies (7-1) back into the national title race. Though it's early November, just about every team in the top 10 (and maybe lower) in the newest poll still has title hopes. That includes Miami.

It will take some time for that to sink in for the Hurricanes. They're not out of the title race, but they'll have to shake the hangover that's destined to follow this loss.

Losing here hurt UM ears as much as it did UM hearts.

Quarterback Brock Berlin, face stuck in the turf, didn't need to see Eric Green step in front of his pass in the third quarter to know the speedy cornerback returned it 51 yards for a touchdown. He could hear what happened. He could practically feel the earth quaking.

The Hokies added a wonderful wrinkle to their game plan.

Crazy Hokie noise.

It was crazy because it started with the stadium completely empty.

The Hokies weren't even in uniform yet, and this place was already rocking. Two hours before kickoff, you could hear this strange roar wafting up over all these empty seats. Fans, thousands of them, some in goofy orange wigs, all of them in Tech's colors, were lined up outside the stadium to greet the Hokies as they arrived on the team buses. They cheered deliriously before their beloved Hokies even put on their pads.

When Virginia Tech's Corps of Cadets fired the cannon at game's start, you wouldn't have known if not for the puff of smoke. It was that loud.

The Hokies may have won, but they'll be observing a day of silence today in Blacksburg. That's because everybody should be hoarse from screaming their lungs out. I mean everybody. They must have used a shoehorn to get the last fan into sold-out Lane Stadium.

Give Virginia Tech fans credit. They overwhelmed the 'Canes in a way that no crowd ever has.

How else do you explain that failed fake field-goal attempt in the second quarter?

Miami tight end Kevin Everett was racing wide open into the end zone, holder Matt Carter's pass floating like a gift out of the sky, and Everett dropped it. There wasn't a defender within 20 yards, but he must have felt all those Hokie fans leaning in, breathing down his neck. The field is wedged into the stadium with the stands hovering ominously over the bench areas.

This is what Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer wanted. When the Hokies beat Syracuse here two weeks ago, the Orangemen said it felt like Tech fans were on the field. Hokies fans like that. Many of them came Saturday wearing T- shirts that read "I'm a walk-on."

The Hokies had seven penalties and two turnovers in the first quarter, but they led 7-0 thanks to DeAngelo Hall's 28-yard fumble return for a touchdown. They didn't complete a pass in the first half and led 10-0. They didn't need much offense. They had more than enough noise to beat down the 'Canes.

Randall Mell covers sports for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.